SEATTLE, Wash. – Beginning their quest in the 2023 postseason, the USF Dons women's basketball team (19-13, 9-9) came up short in their road matchup against the Washington Huskies (16-14, 7-11) by a 61-46 final score from Alaska Airlines Arena on Thursday night.
 
Leading the way for USF against UW was another double-double off the bench from forward Debora dos Santos who put up a team-high 10 points and corralled the same amount of rebounds against the Huskies. Also providing a nice scoring spark for the Dons Kennedy Dickie and Kia Vaalavirta each contributed nine points to the Dons' effort in the first round of the WNIT.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Both teams got off to slow starts scoring the ball as the first points of the game weren't scored until three minutes had been eclipsed off the game clock. Ioanna Krimili was able to get the Dons on the scoreboard first as she banked in a three as the jump shots began falling for both sides. Late in the quarter Dickie knocked down a big corner three that gave USF a one-point lead before a Huskies' basket that put them ahead 13-12 after the first 10 minutes of play.
• The Dons returned to the floor for the second quarter with a renewed focus on scoring the ball as they scored the first four points of the period thanks to a dos Santos turn around shot and a pair of free throws from Dickie to lead 16-13. After UW was able to get back within a point, Amy Baum knocked down a crucial corner three that put USF ahead 19-13 before a quarter ending 6-0 spurt from UW evened the score at 19 heading into the break.
• After Washington scored the first points of the second half on a corner three, the Dons were able to answer back five points of their own as Vaalavirta made a basket in the paint while Dickie answered with a step back three of her own that put USF ahead 24-22. UW was able to create some separation late in the third quarter before Abby Rathbun scored on a key and-one that brought the Dons with six at 35-29. The home side was able to put together a late 6-0 run that put them ahead 41-31 heading into the fourth.
• The Huskies were able to further build on their lead throughout the fourth quarter as they picked up the 61-46 victory on their home court Thursday evening.

 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• dos Santos led the way for USF as she scored 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds and a pair of steals against the Huskies.
• Vaalavirta had a nice game against UW as she scored nine points on 4-for-6 from the field with a pair of rebounds and steals as well as an assist on Thursday night.
• Dickie did a nice job competing for the Dons in the front court as she scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds against Washington.

 
TICKETS AND MERCHANDISE:
Single-game tickets for West Coast Conference basketball games are currently on sale at www.usfdons.com/tickets. 

Want to dress like the Dons? Rep USF today by visiting the all-new USF Dons online store at www.usfdons.com/shop.

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For updates and more information on the USF women's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsWBB on Twitter, @USFDonsWBB on Instagram and @USFDonsWBB on Facebook.

SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our department sponsor – 25 Ventures - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.